Mother, daughter fend off attacker

A man attacked a 12-year-old girl and her mother at the Hilton Garden Inn on Saturday morning before fleeing the scene after a violent struggle.

By Lise Fisher and Megan RollandStaff writers

A man attacked a 12-year-old girl and her mother at the Hilton Garden Inn on Saturday morning before fleeing the scene after a violent struggle.The suspect was seen in the parking lot before the attack, and police believe he was staking out the hotel room at the Hilton Garden Inn off SW 33rd Place at about 10:30 a.m. Saturday, said Gainesville Police Department spokesman Lt. Keith Kameg.Described as 5 feet 7 inch to 5 feet 10 inch, black, muscular, with a slight beer belly, the man waited for the father of the family to leave with several children before knocking on the hotel room door. Thinking it was hotel staff, the 12-year-old victim answered while her mother was in the bathroom.The man immediately tried to overpower the child.He was carrying duct tape and tried to use the tape to cover her mouth.Kameg said there was a violent struggle. The mother came out of the bathroom and a "knockdown fight" ensued, Kameg said."The girl did everything right you can imagine," Kameg said. "Kicking, fighting, screaming." "There was a violent brawl inside that room, and it culminates with mom and daughter chasing him out and calling police."Both the mother and child were taken to the hospital as a precaution, and the girl did suffer minor injuries to her face, Kameg said.Police were still searching Sunday for the suspect, who at the time of the attack was wearing a Panama Jack white safari-style hat, black stocking mask, red long-sleeved shirt, blue jeans and ladies sunglasses. The family told police they believe they saw the suspect in the hotel parking lot earlier sitting in a silver-gray Ford crew-cab pick-up.The suspect escaped with money the family had for a trip to Tampa. The Gainesville Fraternal Order of Police stepped up to provide the family with $250 so they could return to their home in Mississippi.

Anyone with information is asked to call Det. Bennie Smith at 334-2488.